PHILADELPHIA – It wasn’t the White Sox batter. Munetaka Murakami a swing that didn’t materialize in Monday’s Home Run Derby; it was his time.
Murakami, whose nine homers were not enough to get past the first round in the tournament, which the Cardinals won. Jordan Walkerit would have been better to compete in 1990.
That year, the last time the All-Star Game was played at Wrigley Field, the fun, no-hitter derby featured a total of five homers, three of them by the Cubs. Ryne Sandbergwho won. Leaving every clump of ivy, we Ken Griffey Jr., Jose Canseco, Cecil Fielder, Darryl Strawberry And Bobby Bonilla.
If you think the wind might have something to do with it, you’re absolutely right. Thirty-six years ago, after 30,000 fans had seen virtually nothing and the Ballhawks’ gloves remained empty in the streets behind the stands, the Sun-Times Ray Sons wrote that it was a punishment from the baseball gods for installing lights in the North Side Temple.
If we’re lucky enough to see next July without a fight between owners and players taking over the baseball season, the All-Star Game will finally return to Wrigley.
‘It’s going to be crazy,’ Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “Obviously Wrigleyville is fun Monday through Sunday, so I’m interested to see how crowded it is and how difficult it ends up being to get around. But knowing (chairman Tom Ricketts), and our front office, and the people who will likely be involved in this planning, I’m sure it will be great. “Wrigley is a beautiful stadium and I’m glad it will be on display.”
But there is also a derby to think about.
“I hope the wind blows, though,” Crowe-Armstrong said. “If there is a strong wind on the day, the derby will be interesting.”
Phyllis Kyle Schwarber runner-up Monday at Citizens Bank Park, and also in 2018, when he pitched for the Cubs in Washington.
“Wrigley Derby?” Man, I hope the wind calms down,” Schwarber said.
Will he want to participate?
“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll see about that.”
And Crowe-Armstrong?
“Maybe I will, just considering I’m at home and everything,” he said. “But it’s a tiring couple of hours and I’m not entirely sure if my swing is made for that.”
Shohei continues
Crowe-Armstrong is second only to Dodgers megastar Shohei Ohtani in National League MVP odds, which doesn’t mean the odds are even remotely close. Of course this is not true.
But is there a chance that MVP will be upset with Ohtani, who withdrew from the Midsummer Classic to focus on nursing a sore knee? Is there even a chance?
“Man, I wish I could dethrone him, but I don’t know how you do it,” Crowe-Armstrong said. “Unless I go to one of the pitching labs in the offseason. Yeah, I’ll go get closer or something and see how that improves my chances. But this guy is a freak.”
Walker’s wish
Walker’s Derby victory was remarkable, in large part because the $1 million first prize topped his 2026 salary of $799,400, a hair above the major league minimum.
But it also gave him hope that his performance would inspire many black young men to pick up a bat and hit the fences.
“I would certainly like to see more black players in MLB and just in baseball,” Walker told the Sun-Times.
According to active Opening Day rosters, the league is 6.8% black this season—a slight increase from 2025, but still much lower than before.
After winning the Derby, Walker recalled his early baseball days at Belvedere Park near Atlanta, where he played for an all-black team his coach grandfather called the “Black Yankees.”
In his locker before the All-Star Game, Walker had to laugh at the name.
“But it was so much fun,” he said. “I just want them to know that baseball is also a sport that they can play and that it’s fun too. And I want to see more representation.”
High praise for a non-All-Star
So who is the best defender these days?
A Chicago reporter asked the Nationals a question. C.J. AbramsNL starter in position.
“There are a lot of great competitors,” he said. ”(Cubs’) DAnsby Swanson right up there.”
Oh yeah? Tell us more.
“He’s an all-around great player,” Abrams said. “Defensively: the way he handles the ball, his range. He really doesn’t make mistakes. I’ve never seen him make a mistake.”
Getting to know each other better
Ten years ago, then-Cubs manager Joe Maddon ran closer to the ground – and then some – in pursuit of a World Series title. Somehow, Aroldis Chapman survived it and, after all this time, is still effective enough to become an All-Star with 19 saves for the Red Sox.
“I just kept working and dedicating myself to my career,” Chapman said. “There were good years and bad years, but my mentality remained the same and this is the result of that.”
Former teammates Anthony Rizzo And David Ross approached Chapman about including him on his Lovable Reunion podcast, but he said it would have to wait.